Vikram Seth Books

From the impish to the brilliantly comic, Vikram Seth's animal fables in verse can (like Diwali sweets) be enjoyed by young and old alike. Familiar characters in a new and magical form, such as the greedy crocodile who was outwitted by the monkey or the steady tortoise who out-ran the hare, here take their place beside a newly minted gallery of characters and creatures who are quirky, comical and always fun. Of the ten tales told here, two come from India, two from China, two from Greece, two from Ukraine, and two, as the author puts it "came directly to me from the Land of Gup." This is a book that displays astonishing versatility of the poet who gave us The Golden Gate and All You Who Sleep Tonight . The flair and delight of Beastly Tales from Here and There is proof that Vikram Seth can try on most unusual clothes without in the least losing his unique poetic identity.

The three Chinese poets translated here are among the greatest literary figures of China, or indeed the world. Wang Wei with his quiet love of nature and Buddhist philosophy; Li Bai, the Taoist spirit, with his wild, flamboyant paeans to wine and the moon; and Du Fu, with his Confucian sense of sympathy with the suffering of others in a time of civil war and collapse. These three poets of a single generation, responding differently to their common times, crystallise the immense variety of China and the Chinese poetic tradition and, across a distance of twelve hundred years, move the reader as it is rare for even poetry to do.

The classic Number One bestseller from award-winning author Vikram Seth.

`The perfect travel book' New Statesman Hitch-hiking, walking, slogging through rivers and across leech-ridden hills, Vikram Seth travelled through Sinkiang and Tibet to Nepal: from Heaven Lake to the Himalayas. By breaking away from the reliable routes of organised travel, he transformed his journey into an unusual and intriguing exploration of one of the world's least known areas. 'Vikram Seth is already the best writer of his generation' Daniel Johnson, The Tmes

Written in verse, this was Vikram Seth's first novel. Set in the 1980s, in the affluence and sunshine of California's silicon valley, it is the story of twenty-somethings looking for love, pleasure and the meaning of life.

The violinist hero of Vikram Seth's third novel longs for secret harmonies but finds himself frustrated in London, ten years after a pivotal disaster. Michael Holme feels irritated by his beautiful young girlfriend and his colleagues in the Maggiore Quartet, tired of playing second fiddle in both life and art. A chance encounter with Julia, the pianist he once loved in Vienna, brings him unexpected joy, but her troubling situation threatens their rekindled romance. Despite its shorter length compared to Seth's previous work, the novel offers rich complexities, both personal and lyrical, while avoiding clichés. Michael's emotional struggles are highlighted when he reflects on how inadequate his words seem in expressing his feelings for Julia. The narrative also explores the dynamics of collaboration and trust within the quartet, likening it to various forms of relationships filled with tension and pleasure. The significance of music is profound, with Schubert's Trout Quintet and a rare Beethoven piece playing crucial roles. Michael's longing for both Julia and his borrowed Tononi violin underscores themes of possession and loss. As the story unfolds across cities, readers will be captivated by its emotional depth and musical intricacies.

An extraordinary account of the political upheavals afflicting the newly independent India,taken from the bestselling A SUITABLE BOY.

TWO LIVES tells the remarkable story of Seth's great uncle and aunt. His great uncle Shanti left India for medical school in Berlin in the 1930s and lodged with a German Jewish family. In the household was a daughter, Henny, who urged her mother 'not to take the blackie'. But a friendship developed and each managed to leave Germany and found their way to Britain as the Nazis rose to power. Shanti joined the army and lost his right arm at the battle of Monte Cassino, while Henny (whose family were to die in the camps) made a life for herself in her adopted country. After the war they married and lived the emigre life in north London where Shanti, despite the loss of his arm, became a much-loved dentist. During his own adolescence in England, Vikram Seth lived with Shanti and Henny and came to know and love them deeply. His is the third life in this story of TWO LIVES. This is also a book about history, encompassing as it does many of the most significant themes and events in the 20th century, whose currents are reflected in the lives of Shanti, Henny and their family: from the Raj and the Indian freedom movement to the Third Reich, the Holocaust and British postwar society.